Federer takes aim at tournament directors: "They prefer to have Sinner and Alcaraz in the final, because it works for tennis"

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Few voices in the world of tennis can be more authoritative than that of Roger Federer. The tennis legend, winner of 20 Grand Slams and one of the most graceful players in the game, if not the most. His experience after over twenty years on the circuit and his perspective on tennis three years after his retirement give him a unique insight to analyze the current state of tennis.

During the Laver Cup 2025, Roger Federer was spotted in San Francisco and took the opportunity to speak on Andy Roddick's podcast ‘Serve with Andy Roddick’. However, this time he didn't just talk about his career, the Laver Cup, or the future of tennis led by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, but he was very critical this time about the number of tournaments with very slow court conditions, something that, according to him, prevents more surprises.

Against Tournament Directors

Therefore, he criticized the tournament directors, whom he believes are to blame for this issue: "I understand the tournament directors who, following instructions, try to make the surfaces slower. This gives an advantage to those who need extraordinary winning shots to defeat Sinner, whereas if the court is fast, they can hit a couple of shots at the right moment and win," laments the eight-time Wimbledon champion.

However, his criticism went further with a statement that will not leave anyone indifferent, as he mentions the two biggest assets of the moment: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. "The tournament directors think: 'I prefer to have Sinner and Alcaraz in the final.' In a way, it works for tennis," criticizes the Basel native, then giving an example from his time as a player: "In my era, only 12 tournaments really mattered, so everyone played on their favorite surface, and sometimes they didn't face each other: those were the best matches, attacker against counterattack. Now, however, everyone plays in a similar way, and this is because tournament directors have allowed the speed of the balls and courts to make every week practically the same. We would like to see Alcaraz or Sinner on super-fast courts and then play the same match on super slow courts and see the difference."

Although obviously the criticism was not aimed at Alcaraz or Sinner, but rather at the tournament directors, Federer praised the Spanish and Italian players: "I think it's extraordinary for tennis. In my opinion, we all knew they were very good, but we probably didn't expect them to dominate like this from the start. I must admit it is truly impressive, but also fantastic for the game. At the same time, I wonder how long they can continue like this: they make it look easy, but I've been through that and the truth is it's difficult," concludes Roger Federer, who is not satisfied with the current ATP circuit courts, even though Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are the best in the world.
 

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Federer apunta a los directores de los torneos: "Prefieren tener a Sinner y Alcaraz en la final, porque funciona para el tenis"